Sail On, Sailor 4.5/5 = Great song, should have been one of the BBs last hits. And it could have been if they brought in Ray Charles to do it for them, itís the perfect song for him to sing. Blondie sounds good, but this song only comes to its full right if it were sung by an even way more soulful voice. Blondieís voice gets more and more soulful the older he gets, but back then it didnít differ enough from the others to bring him in the group for that.

Steamboat 4.5/5 = Authentic, Dennis at his best. Competes with the raw title track from his (first) solo album for my all-time favorite Dennis Wilson song.

Big Sur 3.5/5 = Good to see Mike doing something else than surf/girls/cars stuff and bring it to a good end.

The Beaks of Eagles 3.5/5 = The narration doesnít bother me at all, even if it's about birds pairing... The music is quite good, but not good enough to make me regret that it gets interrupted all the time. Especially not when Mike is talking with his relaxing and (might I add) sexy voice.

California 4/5 = The Mike/Al collaboration comes to an end with the best track of the California Saga musically.

The Trader 4.5/5 = Carl shines most on the album, vocally speaking.

Leaving this Town 3/5 = Overrated, itís nothing more than okay to me.

Only with You 2.5/5 = I donít even really like the oo-oohís that much, but itís still the most interesting thing that happens in the song. The ending of the song sounds like it wants to go somewhere better, but it canít, because it would sound too similar to another song.

Funky Pretty 4/5 = Quite funky and quite pretty. The outro is almost half the song, maybe a bit long, but maybe therefore it serves as a good ďalbum closerĒ.

The fairy tale = The strange thing is not that a grown man writes a fairy tale, but that the fairy tale is on an otherwise quite dark and mature album. It contrasts with the rest of Holland in some way. Starts off promising as a fun addition to the album with spoken word alternated with some music, but fails to hold the attention till the end.

All in all a fun little album, and consistent, with all members adding something good to it. This sounds more like the follow-up album of Sunflower than the actual follow-up album of Sunflower, which was good but in its own right. The strange thing is that the album has a quite dark feel, but it seems only because of Steamboat and the album cover. They should have stayed longer in Holland, or at least continued in this style for another album or two. This is in my top 5 BB albums and I rate it a high 4.5.

I love this album.It seems to flow nicely.I just have a problem with Funky Pretty.just don't like it.not sure why... would rather we got love..I Love Steamboat.. On the whole Holland captures a nice groove..

I love this album.It seems to flow nicely.I just have a problem with Funky Pretty.just don't like it.not sure why... would rather we got love..I Love Steamboat.. On the whole Holland captures a nice groove..

It's pretty popular, but frankly, I think it's by far the weak link on the album.

Logged

Any opinions posted by me regarding the music of The Beach Boys, and their members, is in no way a show of disrespect towards any member of The Beach Boys, past or present.

I agree. I think at best "Funky Pretty" is kind of interesting, with its weird little meandering synth lines or different vocal bits intertwining. But it lacks any musical punch, and the lyrics are so fucking dumb.